Dear Tim

Purpose

To help students practice important conflict resolution skills.

Implementation

"Dear Tim" was inspired by an activity from A Cupcake for the Teacher blog. Tim, our school puppet, writes a letter to our students, asking for advice. Then, students have the opportunity to write back so he can solve his problem. Each month, Tim posts a new problem in video (left) and print form. Students K-6 can participate. I send home a parent letter so that families can help students who may need extra assistance, but still want to help their buddy Tim. I've included the rules and parent letter below.

Sample Letters

Here are sample letters from a variety of age groups. As the parent letter (above) states, students can receive help from their families - the goal is to spark discussion and critical thinking, so allowing this to happen at home will only benefit our students.

Winners

Each month, I randomly draw winners. My first month, I picked 4 students. The next month, I decided to pick 8 to offer a bit more motivation. For prizes, I put together bags. My district had leftover drawstring bags from an event, so those were free to me. Everything else, I pieced together from random prizes I already had.

I announce my winners by video to add some fun and excitement. They love it!